Apologize
by Bubblegum Shoes
Summary: /Set after "Duets"/ Artie just can't forgive Brittany, and Brittany's never been good with apologies. Sort of Artie/Brittany


Oh my god I had to write this. Seriously, did you see "Duets"? In my opinion, it was sadder than "Grilled Cheesus", just because of what happened to Brittany. Yes, I know what she did was wrong. But when your favorite character starts to roll meatballs on her plate with her nose you feel a little down.

And I do agree with Artie as well. I mean, poor guy, that sucks. Bad Brittany!…oh I can't stay mad at her! Damn it, I AM WEAK!

Anyways, Brittany tried to apologize, but she never got to finish. So, this is my take on what happened later on, when Brittany did get the chance to finish her apology.

* * *

"I'm not good with apologies."

Artie stops pushing his wheelchair forward. He immediately knows who's behind him. It's the voice that told him they should go out. It's the voice that rang out as they slept together. It's the voice that stuttered an "I'm sorry," as he wheeled away, as if those two little words could make it all better.

Artie doesn't know why he doesn't just keep going. _Just keep going, _Artie tells himself. _Push the wheels, ignore her, forget about her. _But he can't. He finds himself wanting to know what she has to say, if only to shut her down. Make her feel like he felt.

"I've never really had to apologize for much," she says quietly, sounding as innocent as always. But Artie knows she isn't as innocent as she looks. "Usually, whenever I do something stupid, people forgive me 'cause they know I'm always stupid. And when I piss off Santana we usually just have make up sex. And my parents love me a lot, so they don't care if I mess things up. So, I'm not really sure how to say I'm sorry, except that I'm sorry."

Artie almost feels the urge to laugh at how naïve she is. He could use a good laugh right now.

"It doesn't work that way Brittany," Artie says, trying to stay as calm as possible, even though his mind tells him to either shout at her or just get out of here.

He can hear the Cheerio huff, and can only guess she's pouting now. "Why not?" she asks angrily.

"Because Brittany!" Artie almost shouts, and it's at then that he's glad that it's the end of the day and most of the kids are gone. He collects himself. "Because Brittany, what you did…you can never undo that."

He hears her arms fall to her side, and he thinks that her pout is gone, but he can't really tell. He can't bring himself to turn around, to look at that face. The face that belonged to the girl who used him.

"I know I can't undo it…" she says, with a downward inflection in her usually cheery voice. "I'll do anything to make it better. I can bake a cake, well, I can try. Last time I tried to bake a cake it exploded. But I can get you a present or something! Wouldn't that be okay, you know, to like, forgive me if I gave you a present?"

Artie doesn't get it. How can she be this dumb? How can she not realize the pain she's caused him? Then again, sex is nothing for her. With her, all sex is equivalent to a fun night out with friends. For her, it's just pick a guy (or girl if Artie counts Santana), fuck them and act like nothing happened the next day. Artie remembered once, he overheard the Cheerio talking to Santana about how sex was "no big deal". He wishes that memory had resurfaced in his mind during that night. The night when Brittany lifted him off his chair, placed him on the bed, told him "Before we sing our duet, we're gonna do it," like it was nothing.

When she said that, Artie felt like the luckiest guy in the world. _Finally, a girl who's actually willing to do this with me, _he had thought. Finally, a girl who wouldn't leave him, and to prove this, they'd sleep together. It's not like she could break up with him after something so big, right? Artie almost blames himself more than the blonde. _He _was the one who was stupid enough to actually think it could work out. _He _was the one who never told her to stop. _He _was the one who actually bought her load of crap about liking him.

Artie begins pushing himself forward. "If you actually think getting me a present will make things better, then you're dumber than I thought you were."

Artie isn't usually a very hateful person, but right now, so much rage had built inside of him, and he needed to vent. And who better to vent than to the girl who caused this mess. _Might as well try to break her heart as well, _he thinks.

Artie hears feet slapping towards him, and he wishes he could zoom forward, out of her reach, but wishes didn't usually come true for Artie. His wheelchair is spun around by its handles until it's facing the Cheerio. At that moment, he can see her eyes are shimmering, and not the kind of shimmering like happy "Oooh, I got an idea!" shimmer, it's a sad, tear filled shimmer. Artie's never seen the girl so fragile looking, and for just one second, it almost makes him regret his harsh tones.

"I don't know what to do!" she cries, as her tears slide down her cheeks. "I don't know how to make this better! I'm trying, Artie, I am! I just…I don't know how to handle this. I _can't _handle this."

Artie, without thinking, reaches up and brushes away her tears. _This doesn't feel as satisfying as it should, _he thinks, and he had hoped it ease him a bit, to see the person who made him feel so terrible be put in the same mindset. But it wasn't, it just brought him down even more. Artie felt low, and as much as he needed to hate her, he couldn't.

"Stop crying," Artie tells her softly, dropping his angered tone back to his normal voice. "Crying isn't going to help anything."

"I'm sorry," she apologizes, wiping her remaining tears away. "I'll do _anything _to make it better. I was dumb. I am dumb, I'm stupid, I'm selfish, I'm-"

Artie interrupts her. "Insulting yourself won't help either," he explains, and then she stays silent. "Look, what you did was wrong, and I'm still angry. I might be willing to forgive you, I just need some time. There's nothing _you _can do to fix this. The damage has been done, I'm the one who's gonna have to work through it."

She looks like she'll cry again any second. "So I can't do anything?"

Artie thinks for a second. "Well, I mean, you can stop using me, stop acting like I don't exist except as a pawn for your needs."

"What's a pawn?" she inquires, and it brings a small smile to his face.

"Don't worry," he chuckles, and he's surprising himself as he can't believe he's actually laughing. He thought it'd take a long time for him to experience laughter again. "But, if you want to do something, just…I don't know, give me some space, some time to think about all this. Do you understand?"

She nods her head, a small smile tugging at her lips as well from his laugh. "I can do that," she assures confidently.

"Okay, good," he says. "Well, I got to get going so…"

The Cheerio nods her head yet again. "Okay, I get it. I'll…see you later," she says, turning around to walk away. Suddenly, she turns back to Artie, leans down and kisses his cheek. She leans in and whispers into his ear. "I know this doesn't change anything, but I'm sorry. If I could go back and change it, I would, but time machines are hard to buy." With that odd but slightly touching statement, she spins on her heels and walks off down the hall.

Artie knows that an apology can't fix things, and he knows it'll take time for him to forgive the girl, but he understands now she didn't know. Sure, that didn't justify what she did, but on the inside, Artie felt like she really was sorry about it, and not just sorry for making someone sad. That, to Artie, was as good as an apology can get.

* * *

So…er…I know this may seem OOC…or maybe it wasn't. I don't know, tell me in reviews if this was good or not. It's just…I had to write this! My mom and I (yesh, my mom watches Glee with me :D ) were watching the episode and both of us felt for their situation, my mother siding with Artie and me mostly siding with Brittany. So after a short but heated debate (sounds so much cooler than it actually was), I got this idea about Brittany not finishing her apology, and this shtuff was born!

So, again, REVIEW! I need your reviews, if you don't, -hold up kitten- this kitten will be fed to live sharks. Now do you want that. -in head- _I hope they don't realize I don't have the budget for the sharks. _Um…forget that last part. REVIEW!


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